Getty Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies after his team's game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Dallas Mavericks need to be at the top of their game as the playoffs inch closer and closer. Kyrie Irving just recently returned from injury, but on Monday night, he wasn’t able to lift them to a win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
However, after the game, he shared a moment with Grizzlies star Ja Morant, who has been going through a lot of personal issues as of late. He spoke Morant after the game.
“I believe any hardship in life builds character,” Irving said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “When you’re dealing with particular hardships in the public eye, especially with the media being attracted to just keeping up with what we’re doing, or what’s the next kind of grab or story. I don’t want to assume anything about every media member, but that’s just the way it seems for me and my perspective. It’s just [that] there was an overload of judgment on Ja, and there was an overload of judgment on what I had going on. And there’s usually an overload of judgment from the public court of opinion. So, with that working hand in hand, and we’re such a public league, we’re going to deal with situations that may be very difficult to handle for the person going through it.”
Morant was suspended by the NBA after posting a video on his Instagram Story that saw him bolstering a gun in what appeared to be a club. He has not appeared in a game since March 3 but has reportedly been working through things off the court and seems to be nearing a potential return.
Christian Wood Sounds Off on Kyrie Irving
In other news, after the game, Mavericks big man Christian Wood spoke about Irving and what he’s been like as a teammate.
“Kyrie, he’s an unselfish superstar,” Wood said via the Fanatics View YouTube channel. “He lets the game come to him. He’s been setting a lot of screens for me to get a switch and for me to get the mismatch. Or he will have a big on him for him to get the mismatch, and we kind of went back and forth and tried to figure that out. Like I said, in the fourth quarter, we’re going to need him. We’re gonna trust him to take those shots and shoot those shots. I think his ankle was bothering him a little bit down the stretch, but I believe, over time, he’s going to make those shots in the fourth quarter. I think he leads the league in fourth-quarter points. Pretty sure.”
Kyrie Irving Discusses Injury via Dillon Brooks
Meanwhile, Irving suffered an injury during the Mavericks game when Dillon Brooks stepped on his foot. After the game, Irving discussed the incident.
“At the end of the day, we got to take care of the controllable details out there, which is rebounding and staying in front of our men,” Irving said via the Fanatics View YouTube channel. “For the majority night, we did that. But for me, I have to be better if I’m going to be out there. Even maintaining the pace that I was after getting somewhat injured by Dillon. Just got to maintain the poise.”
